American Caesars: Lives of the Presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush

by Nigel Hamilton

American Caesars  takes a fresh look at the lives and careers of the twelve leaders of the American empire since World War II, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush. President by president, the noted biographer Nigel Hamilton strips away myths and wishful thinking to record our most recent presidents as they really leaders guiding the fortunes of an unruly empire, on a world stage. Hamilton relates and examines the presidents’ unique characters, their paths to Pennsylvania Avenue, their effectiveness as global leaders, and their lessons in governance, both good and bad. With uncompromising candor he looks at how these powerful men responded to the challenges that defined their presidencies—FDR’s role as a war leader, Harry Truman’s decision to mount a Berlin Airlift rather than pursue military confrontation with the Soviets, Lyndon Johnson’s undertaking of controversial Civil Rights legislation and his disastrous war in Vietnam, Jimmy Carter’s handling of the Iran hostage crisis, George H. W. Bush’s effectiveness in guiding the world during the collapse of the Soviet Union, and his son’s fateful invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other salient episodes in modern American history. In the Suetonian manner, Hamilton also looks at the presidents’ private lives—some noble, some flawed, some deeply moving.

Genres: History, Biography, Politics, Nonfiction, American History, Presidents, American

624 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

Nigel Hamilton is an award-winning British-born biographer, academic and broadcaster, whose works have been translated into sixteen languages.

Reviews

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. book layout borrowed from a roman era biographer of roman emperors, with focuse on political life of each president, followed by their private lives. At times it felt brief, and omitted important pieces of each of the presidents it examined, but which the author admits in the end is a necessary part of writing biographies of 12 presidents in 500 pages. it has raised my interest in some of the subjects and will hopefully be a good jumping off point into the topic.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an achievement by Nigel Hamilton. This book covers the presidencies of FDR and the 11 men who followed him into The White House, and focuses on how they came to power, what they achieved during their presidency, and their private lives. Hamilton himself says in the acknowledgements that he deliberately separated out the public and private lives of each of the Presidents, to view their time in office in isolation initially, before looking at the private circumstances which may have influenced them.

Despite the brevity of the chapters, with barely 45 pages dedicated to each of the men who have ruled the American Empire since 1932, I felt as though I was given a pretty full summary of each of the Presidents' time in office, and it probably made the narrative thread and comparisons easier to digest than Hamilton's original manuscript, which was apparently double the size!

As an outsider - a non-American - it is, at times, an uncomfortable read, from post-WW2 Presidents ignoring pressing social issues such as civil rights because of not wanting to deal with the maelstrom it would create in the South, to the disgusting campaigning tactics of Atwater and Rove, which helped place Bushes Senior and Junior in power. For all their faults, men like FDR and Truman appear to have brought dignity, honour, clear policies and a moral basis to their time in office - a stark comparison to the criminality of Nixon or Bush Jnr, the listlessness of Bush Snr, the publicly aired sexual adventures of Clinton, or the willingness of the Reagan and Bush Jnr administrations to pursue destructive foreign policy initiatives that wasted strong negotiating positions and undermined America's international reputation. Reading about the conduct of Newt Gingrich during the Clinton years makes me utterly astonished that he is a credible candidate for the Republican nomination this year.

Having said all that, I'm no expert on the Presidents and have not read widely about them. Hamilton clearly has his favourites, and gleefully shreds George W. Bush in a final chapter that makes the reader wonder how on earth Bush and his administration were able to get away with what they did, and how they have evaded prosecution, and even more astounded about him winning a second term than I was at the time. No doubt there are counterpoints out there that cast each of the Presidents in a different light; no doubt more detail would add more depth and shading to each of the men whose time in office is covered here. At the moment, I find myself almost unwilling to delve into any of the Presidents' careers, as I feel it would confuse the picture that Hamilton has sketched with such clarity.

[Andrew Robins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am interested in post war American politics, and have read a fair amount on the subject, but this book was really excellent for filling in the gaps - it consists, basically, of portraits of every US president between FDR and George W Bush.

A few things stood out. No matter how much of an absolute bastard you thought Richard Nixon was, he continues to go on to be revealed to be considerably worse. The only character in this book who comes across as worse than Nixon is Kissinger.

Beyond the predictable, I had no idea of the full extent to which Bush II was manipulated by the likes of Dick Cheney. Presidents I wound up with an improved perception of were Truman and Carter.

The most interesting (after Nixon who is in a category of his own, obviously) must surely be Lyndon Baines Johnson - to go from the heroism of the Civil Rights Act to the insane spiralling out of control of Vietnam in a few years was incredibly disheartening and brought to mind (though on a much smaller scale) the descent of Tony Blair from great new hope to Bush's illegal war poodle.

A very well written, excellent book, the 600 odd pages flew by.

[Hiba · Rating 2 out of 5]

الملفت في مثل هذه المؤلفات قدرة المؤلف او الكاتب على سرد تفاصيل دقيقة وحتى الخاصة من حياة كل من قادة امريكا على مدار الاعوام المتلاحقة، هذا الحيز من الحرية باعتبار كل ما يخص حياة القادة مممن تولوا حكم البلاد لا يدخل ضمن الحق الخاص انما ينشر للعامة لالاطلاع والمعرفة بغض النظر عن تفاوت اهمية هذه المعلومات من سخفها. هي بالمحصلة توضح هذا الاختلاف الحقيقي بين عقلية الغرب وعقليتنا بالتعامل مع الرؤساء والقادة. بين الاعتبار بكون القائد او الرئيس مطلق السيطرة والسلطة والهيمنة بما تشمله من حدود وتحفظ عن كل ما يخصه او يملكه او يتصرفه وبالتالي يرتقي لدرجة اعلى من ان يكون عرضة للمساءلة والمراجعة او حتى ارتكاب الخطأ وان صح وثبت فهو اعلى من ان يخضع لسيادة قانون وسلطته. بينما الاختلاف المتمثل بالنقيض تماما لدى الغرب..على اعتبار الرئيس او القائد هو من ضمن منظومة التوظيف اذ يمثل بمهامه خدمات يؤديها ليستحق عليها امتيازات ..
لكن لا يستثنى من المتابعة والمساءلة وضمن اطار منظومة القوانين ونفوذها

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Mr Hamilton's book about the 12 American Presidents who occupied that powerful office from 1933 to 2009. I anticipated that reading the views of an accomplished European (UK) historian would present a slightly different viewpoint, and this was indeed interesting and refreshing. I felt while reading Mr Hamilton's book that he is too dyed-in-the-wool anti-Republican to present as objectively as I'd hoped - e.g. using Bob Woodward as a major source for his chapter on George W. Bush shows some bias. Similarly, stating as a well-known fact (what I believe to be incomplete theories) that Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan each committed treason by intervening, respectively, in Vietnam and Iran negotiations around Election Day in 1968 and 1980 does not pass muster as an objective history. Still, I learned a lot and enjoyed reading through the various chapters.

Here is how I believe Mr Hamilton would rate these Presidents - FDR, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Lyndon Johnson (a great domestic policy President savaged by his pursuit of the Vietnam War), George H.W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter [as President], Gerald Ford, and George W. Bush. (I would honor his Top Three but would slightly reorder two or three of the others.) I do think he gives John Kennedy too much of a pass - eg would Cuba have even happened if Kruschev didn't think Kennedy was a lightweight to be taken advantage of (and which wouldn't have ever happened if Nixon was President). It is all so much fun to debate!

[Judith Kelsey-powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hamilton shares my biases, so I liked the book a lot. I thought this format was a wonderful way to explore the post-WWII presidencies. I wouldn't recommend it as a first look at the modern presidency, but it gives cogent thumbnail sketches of these biographies--and while not entirely sepatating the personal from the political, reminds us that presidents are people more or less sucessful in multiple arenas of their lives. Definately worth reading.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant - compelling reading!

[Mings the Merciless · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had the chance to be an interesting doorway into the lives of the American presidents from FDR to Bush Jr, mirroring Seuitonus' Twelve Caesars. Hamilton does a good job of portraying this presidents as modern Caesars, with the fate of the world in their hands.

However, either Hamilton needs to double check his facts or the publisher needs a new editing team. There were a number of typos and inconsistencies that appeared to leap out at me. At points, the occupiers of certain jobs appear to change without any explanation; George C. Marshall is Secretary of State and a few pages later James Byrnes. Of course, I'm aware that both men served as Secretary of State under Truman. However, Hamilton does not provide a simple explanation as to why. The situation would easily be remedied by providing some dates as to when these individuals took their jobs. In another instance, Hamilton states that, during the Suez Crisis, the RAF bombed Cairo in 1954. This is despite the Suez Crisis occurring in 1956.

Perhaps the worst example comes in the Gerald Ford chapter, where Ford drops Nelson Rockefeller from 1976 vice-presidential ticket. Hamilton explains that this has not happened since "Robert Taft in 1912", which allowed Woodrow Wilson to "regain" the White House. First of all, Wilson did not regain the White House in 1912, he regained it in 1916. Second, Taft did not drop his VP in 1912 because his VP had actually died. Thirdly, and most importantly, the Taft he is referring to is William Howard Taft, not Robert Taft. Robert Taft was his son.

These may seem trivial. However, if your book is about US presidents, getting their names right should be your bread and butter.

Ultimately, whilst Hamilton's book is an book to start with if you want to get into the lives of America's WWII and post war presidents, its potted history format sometimes leads it into appearing under-researched and in need of some more closer editing.

[Mr. Book · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can also see this review, along with others I have written, at Mr. Book's Book Reviews.

Mr. Book just finished American Caesars: Lives Of The US Presidents - From Franklin D. Roosevelt To George W. Bush, by Nigel Hamilton.

This book was published in 2010.

This book covers each president from FDR to George W. Bush. Each chapter follows the same template: a section on his life prior to the presidency, his time in office and then his personal life.

This was a very disappointing book, for several reasons. When the focus of the book is spread across 12 presidents, there is no need to devote so much of it to their non-presidential years. And we don’t need all of their personal lives. Instead of personal lives, the author could have just inserted one sentence at the beginning saying something like many presidents have sex with women who they were not married to and just eliminate the personal lives sections.

It barely mentions most presidents’ domestic policies.

There was a lot of whitewashing going on in this book, such as Eisenhower’s coup against Iran, LBJ’s career-long corruption, such trivial attention given to Iran-Contra, which was more than Reagan’s treason to gain the presidency in 1980 got, and there was no mention of Bush 41’s lies and propaganda campaign to sell the first Iraq war. Instead, there was a silly allegation that when George H.W. Bush called Reaganomics voodoo, “it was he, not Reagan, who overreached.”

I give this book a C.

Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a C equates to 2 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

Mr. Book finished reading this on December 11, 2024.

[Mike Zadravec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired by Suetonius’ The 12 Caesars, American Caesars delves into the lives of the American presidents at the height of the American empire- from World War II to the September 11th terrorist attacks. In order, the “American Caesars” are: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

The lives of the American Caesars are incredible stories in their own right, but by learning about the policies and decisions that these men made while in office, one gains a breadth of understanding of the key historical events that shaped the American empire.

In addition to the historical side, I appreciated that Hamilton remains fairly objective and even critical in analyzing the personal lives of these presidents. Reading about their personal lives, you would think that having an affair is a requirement to be in the White House.

Overall this was a great piece of political history to read. Of these 12 presidents, FDR is unquestionably the greatest- however, there has to be a special mention for Jimmy Carter. Maybe his presidency wasn’t the most successful, but he has to be the purest guy ever to hold the office of presidency. I mean how many other presidents do you see working as a carpenter for habitat for humanity post presidency? All civil servants should take notes from this guy.

[Les Dangerfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is 12 mini biographies of US Presidents from Franklin D Roosevelt to George W Bush. Each 40 - 45 page biography is divided into three parts: life leading up to the period of Presidency, the Presidency itself and then their 'private' (or in this case not so private) lives. Much of the central part is a reminder of what happened under their watch and how they tried to influence/steer it. Although the key events involve something of a recap on what I already knew about in general terms, the political background to what happened was largely new to me.

In broad terms it is a rather disheartening story of gradual decline in a combination of intelligence, political and more general ability and moral and ethical standards of the incumbents - perhaps this is partly because the individuals doing the job have been scrutinised in more detail by the media as time has passed.

Roosevelt and Truman come across as the stars of the show, Carter as the angel (though perhaps largely on the strength of his life and work after the presidency), Nixon as the arch-villain and George W Bush as the most incompetent by a mile. Thinking back to the controversially close race between him and Al Gore in 2000, one can only reflect on what a different world we would be in now if the result had gone the other way.

[Daniel Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having tried and failed to finish Suetonius’ Twelve Caesars, this book kept my interest from cover to cover. Following the same structure as it’s predecessor allows for a focussed read. Still contains the same interesting tidbits and intrigue as Suetonius, whilst serving as a pocket history of three quarters of a century of modern American history. Would recommend strongly.

~~~

Some notes of standout events/topics, by President, worthy of further investigation:

FDR: New Deal, WWII

Truman: NATO, The Bomb, Korean War

Eisenhower: Operation Torch, Operation Overlord, creation of executive privilege, fighting McCarthyism, failure to deal with Khrushchev, May Day mission

JFK: Bag of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, assassination, womanising

LBJ: rapid Senate rise, war on poverty, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Vietnam, womaniser

Nixon: HUAC, Checkers speech, treason with S Vietnamese, McCarthyism, China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Watergate

Ford: Nixon pardon, ending Vietnam, Helsinki Accords

Carter: Camp David accords, Panama Canal, Iran hostages

Reagan: Reagan Revolution, Star Wars, Iran Contra

Bush Sr: Willie Horton, no new taxes, START, Operation Desert Storm, end of the USSR, NAFTA

Bill Clinton: Whitewater, philandering, Serbia, Northern Ireland, balanced budget, Lewinsky, impeachment

Bush Jr: Iraq, 9/11, axis of evil, WMDs, Katrina, financial crisis

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic, spanning work of biography. Dutifully and methodically records the political journeys, presidential careers, and personal lives of each respective president of the USA, from FDR to George W. Bush.

Remains mostly objective, however at times the author's personal tastes and sympathies become apparent, which renders it not purely a factual report, but simultaneously an emotionally investing story.

Provides a fantastic top-down view of the history of the presidents, which is rich in detail, and offers mentions of events whose full outlining had to be cut from the book due to concerns of length, but a particularly studious reader can follow up on these events through independent research.

Overall, the book provides a vast wealth of factual historical knowledge spanning over nearly 80 years, yet to the end remains an engaging character study, with 12 fascinating subjects.

[John Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would serve quite well as an introduction to American presidential history. The lives of twelve presidents from FD Roosevelt to George W. Bush. The author separated the political, or public, lives from their private lives. Generally not much was written about the latter. The author has shown bias in some cases which readers should notice, but it doesn't detract too much from the enjoyment of the book. Covering twelve presidents in about 500 pages means a fairly light coverage, and this is appropriate for what the book is. I enjoyed reading it, and gained some insights into a subject in which I have only been slightly interested. I might consider reading more about some of these, and later presidents, if the opportunity arises.
Rating 3.9.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really 3.5 but bumped it up half.
Interesting, really liked the briefness of the presidents. I’m interested, but don’t want to read 700-1000 pages on his person. This hits the highlights.
Author is very opinionated, which I mostly liked, but sometimes, I felt he should just give the inf and I can decide for myself.
He did not like the First Ladies at all. He was awful to Eleanor Roosevelt and not too nice to Ladybird. He felt George Ws wife could have kept him from running again.
He also did not like Gerald Ford and Hated George w.Bush ( agree but I am not a historian). Of course he did not have the distance to really judge W.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introductory portraits of the presidents from FDR to George W Bush. I enjoyed the approach focusing on their lead up to assuming office, the major events of their presidency, and then stepping back to look at the main features of their personality and personal life. This way, it was possible to see how their main decisions were partially influenced by personality - both positive and negative aspects.

I now look forward to reading in more detail about some of the leaders covered in this book. Very enjoyable.

[Lauren White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinely the best historical and political biography of major modern presidents you'll find. It is entertaining and truly interesting and most of the time it feels like you're not even reading a history book. Hamilton does a great job and, in my opinion, judges the presidents with just the right temperament and has a deeper understanding and bigger picture overview than some other biographers and historians do. Well worth a read.

[Saad · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب جميل جدا للمهتمين بالسياسة الأمريكية.. يستعرض تاريخ مجموعة من الرؤساء الأمريكان والذين أطلق عليهم لقب (القياصرة). بداية من روزفلت وصولا إلى بوش الإبن.. يستعرض جزء من حياتهم وكيف وصلوا للبيت الأبيض وكيف صارت الأمور في عهدهم.. الكتاب رائع لمحبي التاريخ.. وملئ بمعلومات تفصيلية لم تكن معروفة من قبل.. مع وجود تحيز واضح من قبل الكاتب اتجاه بعض الرؤساء..

[Liam Connolly]

Super interesting and informative series of biographies on US Presidents from FDR to George W. I learned a lot about major themes in 20th century American history, and explains a lot of why and how the country got to where it is today

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it very interesting and quite easy to read. It held my attention throughout each chapter. Well written in my opinion.

[Conrad Timon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, highly recommended

[David Hickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and concise accounts of these presidents. Great for a quick overview of each president from Roosevelt to Bush Junior.

[Stephanie Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good intro.

[Marwa]

Empire
Wwii
Leadership
American peace

[Clive Grewcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A partial reread. I read this a few years back, but with things potentially kicking off in Korea I wanted to read the Harry S. Truman chapter. I often overlook how much happened on Truman's watch; Germany's surrender, the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Berlin Airlift, the Korean war and McCarthyism.
Having seen the film Jackie recently I also reread the chapter on JFK, but the book doesn't dwell on her story post the assassination.
My edition of 'American Caesars' ends in 2009 with George W. Bush. Oh what a chapter there will be to add about Donald Trump

[Sharon Tzur · Rating 1 out of 5]

ONE star because strong anti-Israel bias leads to distortion of history. Two examples: In discussing the Six Day War (1967), Hamilton mentions the closing of the Straits of Tiran by Egyptian president Nassar, and then goes on to say that Israel was not willing to wait for a diplomatic solution, and so it launched the war. NOTHING about the fact that Nassar had mobilized the Egyptian army in Sinai, on Israel's border, nothing about the pacts with Syria, and Jordon to support each other. Nothing about the threats to wipe out Israel - or the fact that Russian was goading the Arabs to go to war. Israel was faced with the prospect of being attacked on three fronts, and decided to conduct a preemptive strike against the Egyptian air force - fearing that if the Arabs chose the time to attack, Israel might lose the war and even victory would come at a much higher price. On the front with Jordan, Israel appealed to King Hussein to stay out of the war, but he decided to live up to the commitment he had made and attacked Israel. It was only after the attack by Jordan that Israel counterattacked on that front and took over East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

One can argue whether or not Israel was justified in conducting a preemptive attack, but to simply leave the mobilization of the Egyptian army out of the picture? And the alliances signed with Syria and Jordan? That is simply a total distortion of history.

Terminology: Hamilton writes about the Litani Operation in 1978. Never mind that only one of the causes is cited. What I object to is the phrase "Nazi brutality" to describe Israel's actions. True, civilians suffered along with PLO militants (or terrorists, depending on your point of view), as happens in many wars and battles. But "Nazi?" This is a loaded word applied by the author ONLY to Israel, and of course there was nothing in the Litani operation to justify the use of that word. True, he hides behind the phrase "critics claim", but he is the one who brings this claim. He quotes the same critics being concerned that Israel "might be seeking more Lebenstraum" a ludicrous claim in light of the fact that Israel long ago withdrew completely from Southern Lebanon and never placed as much as a single settler there. But notice again the use of loaded jargon. Why use the word "expansion" when you can write "Lenebstraum" and thus put Israel on the same plane as the Nazis. (Note: the IHRA definition of Antisemitism includes "drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis". )

Hamilton says that Rabin was a former "terrorist" - not surprising considering that he calls the Haganah a terrorist organisation. While many historians consider Etzel and Lehi to be terrorist organisations, this is not true of the Haganah, which was established to protect Jews from attack. At the same time, when Hamilton mentions the killing of 35 Israelis by PLO terrorists, who had infiltrated from Lebanon (the immediate cause of the Litani operation), he does not use the word "terrorists", but "a rogue element of the PLO").

There are many more examples. A pity because I though the book had a lot of merit - but for me, the strong anti-Israel bias, leading to distortion, ruined the book. I expect more objectivity from a historian.

[Gee · Rating 3 out of 5]

American Caesars is an easy-to-read look at the lives of American Presidents from FDR to George W Bush. Each presidency was addressed in three sections - The road to the White House; The presidency; and the president's private life in which the various (or singular) romantic and family lives of each was addressed.

Drawing on previous research as well as his own, Nigel Hamilton has brought together an impressive review of each man and although I detected a slight anti-Republican slant at times (only very slight), I still nonetheless found the book enlightening on the power each man held while in office along with, more importantly, the opportunities for positive change either simply missed or disappointingly scotched by the reality of politics.

As I said at the outset, it's an extremely easy-to-read book. Hamilton's style makes you feel like you're reading a well-written novel only the characters are all too real. It's also instructive in understanding the current state of play in American politics, demonstrating that the entrenched attitudes of the main political players is truly a constant.

There were some truly noble men who held the presidency, upon whom history has passed a kinder judgement, and there were some incredibly flawed men as well - I had not fully understood how flawed until I read this book.

If you have an interest in American/presidential politics, this is a very enjoyable read. If you don't, it's an interesting read nonetheless and a great way to get a brief understanding of just how the most powerful political post in the world works, how it's viewed in the context of American domestic culture, the sort of people who make it to the presidency and the impact they can have on the world whilst they're there.

[Alice Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty long book, but it was written so well that it felt like reading a novel rather than a piece of non-fiction. The book covers the lives of the twelve presidents from FDR to George W. Bush. Each chapter is broken up into three parts; the road to the White House, the presidency, and private life.

I have to say I'm quite ignorant of American politics, though clearly the Democrat and Republican parties are mirrored by the UK's Labour and Conservative, respectively. The life of each president is summed up in less than 50 pages each, with enough detail to get a good picture of what each of them was like. The last chapter on George W. Bush was obviously very fun for Hamilton to write, as he completely ripped into him as probably the least competent president ever to set foot in the White House.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and again am astonished at the deceit and arrogance of most politicians out there today.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis from Book List: In explicit emulation of Suetonius’ The Twelve Caesars, Hamilton presents character sketches of U.S. presidents since 1945, excluding Barack Obama.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The book starts with FDR and finishes with George W. Bush. Each chapter discusses the president before the presidency, during the presidency and aspects of his personal life. With approximately 40 pages given to each president, only certain points are highlighted and there is a bit of the author's slant given to each.

Personally, while I found the information interesting, I had a hard time reading the book and ended up skimming through some of the presidents. What was interesting was how some of them (Reagan, Kennedy for example) are viewed today given their actions while in the White House.

[Deborah LaRoche · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a concise, well-written collection of biographies of US Presidents from FDR to George W. Bush. Written by a British guy, I was first impressed with his impartiality and sense of objectivity, however, as I moved into the parts of history I have lived through and been aware of (say, from Reagan to Bush II), he revealed more of a liberal bias. That, or maybe he just can't stand the Bush family and their advisors for all that they did (and didn't do) in terms of foreign policy and international security during their terms as Presidents. As a liberal Democrat myself, though, I still felt like he got most of it right.

Warning: After reading this book, you will have less respect for the majority of our presidents if you value marital fidelity at all. Sheesh. Keep it in your pants, gentlemen.